Should I Take Her Along For Now?

As the boy said.

At this moment, what unfolded before Maya’s eyes was a sight that could only be defined as beautiful.

The small lights that soared into the sky suddenly made a noise like thunder.

The streams of light created by the intermingling of colorful fragments bursting at the end were now even captivating the minds of those watching.

“What, what is that? That……”

Maya came to her senses when she caught the lingering scent spreading from it.

Spicy and stinging…….

The distinctive smell of the substance called gunpowder.

“Is that, Ludger’s doing?”

She realized belatedly.

That those brilliant arrays of light were merely byproducts of bombs.

As it was clearly a phenomenon caused by gunpowder exploding, she should maintain her guard.

“Wow, seeing it in person is truly spectacular.”

However, unlike Maya who couldn’t understand it, the man she had caught was letting out admiring exclamations while staring at the sky.

Although he was thought to have been involved in this incident, his current reaction seemed closer to that of someone who hadn’t expected this spectacle.

As if proving that his claim of just being interested in what he had briefly heard was true.

“……Sean Goldrope, what exactly is that?”

But he must have heard something from the person involved.

Maya cautiously asked, and Sean shrugged as he answered.

“It’s bombs. Things that this academy has forbidden until now.”

He doesn’t deny that much.

That those colorful showers of sparks in the sky were made with prohibited items.

“That, I know that too. What I want to ask is……”

“Flame reaction.”

A voice interrupts just as she was about to finish her question.

As if unable to ignore that voice, Maya’s head began to turn towards the boy beside her.

Dale Enberton.

Towards the boy who was still unable to take his eyes off the sky, trying to analyze the phenomenon.

“That’s a phenomenon caused by flame reaction, right?”

“Flame reaction, as in chemistry…?”

It’s basic chemistry knowledge.

When metal compounds are burned, their color changes depending on the substances they contain.

Sodium in salt turns yellow, sulfur turns blue, iron turns gold, lithium turns a more passionate red than ordinary flames…….

“Yes, I saw it often in my hometown. When I watched people gathering scrap metal and working with metals, there were always a lot of sparks flying.”

And it was a sight the boy was very familiar with.

Leninslieve, a lawless zone, is a place where all kinds of trash from the continent gather due to the magnetism emitted by unstable ground layers.

The boy from there knew best that the main export of that place was reprocessed metal from scrap.

“Those flying sparks were so pretty that I spent a while just watching them.”

But even though it was so familiar, the boy couldn’t help but be amazed.

The boy who had lived underground all his life hadn’t been on the surface for long yet.

“But I’ve never seen anything this big before. Like that……”

For the boy whose entire time on the surface was limited to life in this academy, the brilliance filling the sky was a sight he had never seen before in his life.

“I think I just learned today that the light produced when metal burns can become this magnificent and beautiful.”

“Beautiful…. you say.”

The continuous explosions bursting in the sky even as they continued their conversation.

Maya’s attention shifted from the boy back to the sky once again.

‘Just for… something like that, they caused all this commotion…?’

Staring at the phenomenon whose entire reason for existence was just a momentary blaze creating radiance.

“They’re crazy.”

She expresses her incomprehension like that.

Because what was used to create those fireworks was none other than items prohibited by this academy.

She knows better than anyone that the responsibility to bear for using such items would by no means be light.

“They’re out of their minds. Just for something like this….”

“No, Chairwoman. That’s not it.”

Unlike Maya who couldn’t understand it, Sean, also gazing at the sky, was letting out admiration.

“Those fireworks shine even brighter because this is Maris, don’t they?”

“What do you……”

“Well, think about it. Even if the Empire controls half the continent, what happens there is of no concern to people from other countries, but this academy is a place everyone pays attention to regardless of their origin.”

Sean said nonchalantly.

Still looking up at the sky.

As if showing that he too was captivated by the array of lights spread across that sky.

“If such a spectacle happened in a place like that, it would soon spread across the entire continent. They’d say, ‘Ah, finally a sight everyone can see equally.'”

“An equal sight…? You mean that?”

“Unlike the ground where people fight bitterly for all sorts of reasons like dividing ranks and discrimination, from the start, no one was standing in the sky.”

Sean chuckled after expressing his thoughts and continued appreciating the array of lights.

“Still, when I just heard about it, I was skeptical… But seeing that, I feel like the senior’s idea wasn’t wrong.”

“……That’s nonsense.”

Maya had no choice but to deny Sean’s easygoing opinion.

Even if the result was just creating a splendid spectacle, which might seem trivial.

Because what happened until that result came about was clearly illegal and an act that caused chaos.

Such pure intentions cannot justify his actions.

“Even if it wasn’t a prohibited item, there would have been other spectacles suitable for festivals. There was no need for something like that……”

But even so……

Even though she understood it logically, Maya couldn’t bring herself to actively finish refuting Sean’s opinion.

“Just for, something like that……”

She knew the reason.

Even if there were other alternatives, they would just be the result of compromise, resigned to and conforming to their circumstances.

While choosing the next best option might be right, it can never produce the best result.

The dilemma of weighing ideals against reality always follows, and unlike herself who chose reality, he simply chose the ideal.

And at the end of a life-or-death gamble, he proved to everyone.

That this was the firework that had captivated him.

Even if the process was unknown, at least the result….

No one could claim this light was wrong.

“Chairwoman. What I’ve felt while coaxing various problem students is.”

And ironically, the one who participated in such an ideal was not the leader who tried to look after all students equally, but the worst lawbreaker.

“Even the most hopeless trash usually has some sort of plausible backstory, at least at the beginning.”

“…A backstory?”

“Well, the reasons are diverse. It could be oppression from strict parents, stress from studies… or disillusionment with a society that emphasizes only the standard without explaining anything.”

That was something Maya understood as well.

Children don’t know anything, but the world has no reason to explain everything to such ignorant children.

They just endure, forcibly understand or submit.

Adults might say it easily since they’ve already overcome all that, but children before reaching that stage can easily fall into the path of deviation.

“Moreover, Maris has changed its system a lot before and after the war. Even if it can accommodate more people, it can’t accommodate everyone, so there will always be those abandoned by the group.”

Even though everyone has to accept and move on inevitably……

While that might be right, she couldn’t voice that fact out loud at this moment.

Because that boy staring at this spectacle even now was exactly such an existence abandoned by the whole.

How could one say it’s natural for some to be abandoned in front of a child who could turn violent at any moment due to indiscriminate sadistic tendencies?

“…What are you trying to say?”

Maya turned to Sean, seeming resigned.

Although her voice was still sharp, there was a minimum of respect in her question.

Sean shrugged as he answered.

“To prevent such things from happening, you should listen to the students’ stories a bit more properly. When wandering kids befriend those who’ve already gone down the wrong path, all sorts of incidents break out.”

“Hah, that’s not something you, who falls under that bad friend category, should be saying.”

“Well, that’s because it’s much more fun~ It’s way better to be rowdy than bound by strict rules, isn’t it?”

Well, I guess so.

Regardless of Ludger’s or other troublemakers’ intentions, this guy is indeed trash.

An idiot who believes life’s value lies only in fleeting pleasures. That evaluation probably won’t change even with time.

‘But perhaps because he’s such trash, his view of the world might be more flexible.’

Unlike herself who only focused on pleasing everyone and couldn’t make any decisions proactively.

Yes, so at least…….

At this moment, Maya had to admit one thing.

‘If we had listened to his story even a little and given him a chance……’

Even if the means were wrong.

Even if it was foreseen that they would have to bear the responsibility for the chaos that resulted from it.

‘We might have been able to see something even more amazing unfold in the sky of this Maris.’

The multicolored lights placed in that sky at this moment.

The fact that everyone here could only watch them, just that one thing.

---

Yes, I too.

Sitting on the edge of the tower, I found myself at some point focusing only on the fireworks covering the academy’s sky.

“Well, who would have thought I’d see something like this in this world.”

Even if it’s a world view where fragments of the previous world remain sporadically, that’s only limited to things that transcend time periods like sports genres or food culture.

Of course, fireworks can be made with just knowledge of flame reactions, but until now, no one had shown interest in that direction.

Gunpowder was just a tool for war, and it was expected to remain so.

But to think it would happen without even the intervention of a modern person like me.

“It seems the academy’s mischievous kids have caused another big incident.”

Well, compared to terrorism, incidents caused at the academy are quite cute in scale.

As I snorted at that thought.

“That……”

A whisper along with a creaking sound.

When I turned my gaze sideways, I saw the girl doll’s gaze, fallen to the floor, directed towards the sky.

“What… is that?”

What came out of the mouth I thought would pour out curses was a question about the array of lights.

This probably means that even in the era this child was from, gunpowder was never used in such a way.

“It’s fireworks.”

I explained what I knew to the girl.

“Fire… flower?”

“Yes, it’s a phenomenon created by mixing specific metals with gunpowder.”

“…With gunpowder?”

The girl doll made an expression as if she couldn’t understand.

Probably in the girl’s era too, gunpowder was only used as a weapon, so it seemed she couldn’t imagine something like that could be created.

But isn’t that how tools are originally?

Tissues, commonly used by modern people as daily necessities, were originally substitutes for bandages to cope with the influx of patients in field hospitals, and even plastic wrap used to preserve food was originally created to protect gunpowder from moisture.

Besides that, microwaves that originated from radar research, GPS intended for strategic use, the internet… even the method of combining nitrogen used in fertilizers.

Although their value was recognized at the start for conflicts, they didn’t remain as weapons forever.

Because people exist even in places where everything has been destroyed.

Even in a world reduced to ashes, there are people who try to gather and build up the remnants.

“Gunpowder……”

Of course, this girl might not find value in this situation.

Using gunpowder, which was only used as a weapon, in such a way.

What meaning could there be in just sending it off into the air….

“Gunpowder, can be, this, beautiful……”

But what followed was something I hadn’t expected.

“……What?”

By the time I exclaimed in surprise, the girl’s body had long since completely stopped in place.

The moment when all remaining energy was depleted and operation ceased.

But her unfocused, empty gaze was still fixed on the sky where light was spreading.

-Bang, boom!

How long had I been staring at that sight?

As explosions still echoed in the sky, a faint smile began to form on my lips, backlit by that light.

“…Well, you’re a being with self-awareness too, so of course you can feel such things.”

Even if it’s a creation made by human hands, if that being truly has self-awareness, it would be difficult to regard it as just a tool.

Having self-awareness means knowing that one exists by oneself.

It means realizing that one is the center of living in this world and a being worthy of dignity.

“……If it’s just the battery that’s gone, replacing it should make her move again.”

Although this child didn’t know it, still.

Still, if given just one more chance, maybe a different result from before might come about?

“Should I take her along for now?”

Yes, at this moment, I was sincerely hoping that the being to be taken into my hands would blend into this era.

If even a weapon created just to kill people could melt into everyone’s hearts like the fireworks filling that sky……

If that’s truly possible.

Then someday, a day will come when everyone realizes that even the wounds left by past times can heal.